IMEP: Interview with
IMEP: Interview with
DR. EUGENE GRIGSBY, CHAIR, COM DEAN’ S ADVISORY COUNCIL( continued)
suggest ways to engage members in our goal. As an example, we recently had an orientation session for some new DAC members. I suggested that one way of getting these new members engaged was to present a graphic of the planning process in order for them to see what we were doing, what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done.
This was but one step in providing them with the opportunity both to ask questions and make suggestions. At this same meeting we discussed thoughts about how fund raising was going to be organized. Because the new members have a strong interest in supporting the development of the medical school, we presented information on founding sources for the school to date. This was to elicit from the new members ideas regarding funding sources that they were familiar with. Consequently, we did receive some promising suggestions from these new members.
What does the presence of an independent medical education program do for the people in the local area and the LA County as a whole?
Even prior to the Covid-19 epidemic, numerous reports documented the paucity of physicians serving the health care needs of residents in SPA 6. The ability to train physicians who desire to serve this medically underserved population clearly will be a huge benefit to the region. As the only medical school west of the Mississippi specifically designed to train minority practitioners, there is no question that the increased“ supply” of physicians to serve this population will be increased many fold in a short period of time, benefitting both California and the nation. Over time many of these same individuals will assume leadership roles in both the Los Angeles County health care system as well as the private sector.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the disease has been particularly harmful to minorities and at the same time has wreaked havoc among health care providers. The pandemic has further served to reinforce the importance of having a local medical school that can produce a medical workforce with the desire and expertise to serve low-income minority communities with a variety of health care needs that have gone unmet for too long.
What economic benefits of the program’ s presence in the community do you foresee?
In planning there is the concept of“ sticky” industries. That is, places of employment that cannot readily re-locate in times of economic hardship. Having a medical school as a part of the Drew Complex constitutes a“ sticky” industry which not only provides direct employment, but also attracts secondary activities, such the need for supplies, food, entertainment, child care, and housing, all of which mean economic benefits to the local community. The creation of a transit stop serving this emerging industry further helps to spur economic development activities in the community. Bottom line is that a new medical school will make an additive contribution to the economic well being of the residents of the area for a long time to come.
CDU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE | PG. 11